im thinking about putting 500 lbs or so of sand bags in my rear locker. any horror stories with this before i do it? i dont feel like spending the money on ballast bags and pump. do you put garbage bags around them to keep them dry?

Why would you buy that much lead for the price listed when you could get double, maybe even triple the weight in a Fat sac with the EXACT same money....?? Not to mention lead, sand, etc (anything other then water) is going to help sink your boat to the bottom of the lake. Where water won't. boat sinking could happen to anyone. Not worth the risk IMO... you can get two 1100# bags ea and a pump for $500. Plumb it in and throw a switch on the dash for another $50-$100... Soo... 500# of lead... or 2200# of water... for the same price.

Lead takes up way less room, and can be positioned a hell of a lot better than a ballast bag. For my own setup, I will have both ballast bags and lead. I just don't have the room to get the weight I need if I go all water.

And if you're going to sink your boat, the engine will be the first thing taking it down.

I used sandbags all last season without any problems. I picked up some empty sandbags from a C-A-L Ranch type store for around .65 each. I took the ties out and double bagged them then used a high end duct tape to seal them up good. I could get 55 - 60 lbs each bag and never had any leakage issues. Over the winter I was able to get quite a fair amount of used wheel weights from some tire shops. The shops that won't just give it away tend to have a couple of buckets laying around because people don't want to pay for it. I got around 600 lbs for 100.00 between a couple of different shops. Between the weights and some sand for filler I get 100 lbs/bag. I went to a local army surplus and found some small swiss laundry type bags with a draw string from wwII for .85 each that the sandbags fit really good in and make them more comfortable to move around. I'll be running about 900 lbs this season compared to 600 lbs last year and take up less space in the ski locker/engine compartment.

We used sand bags on an old SeaRay years ago. It worked fine. But the sand does leak out a bit so wrapping it in plastic is fine. We also used to fill old gas cans full of sand. Made it easier to move around. Although harder to hide under seats or throw it in the bow.

The same amount of lead is way smaller. Cost more, but easier to hide & cleaner.

Water ballast will sink your boat just as easily as lead or sand. Just doesn't sink it as far. Just don't use so much weight that it will cause problems. 300 - 500 lbs has never been a problem for us.

I got 120 lbs of lead. I thought about putting 75-100 in the bow to help keep the nose down . Didnt know if that much would really do much in my little boat but seems better when people are up there so it might help when there isnt anyone up there? What do you think

go to your local metal recycling place you can get scrap lead super cheap.. Here is what i did . Get the anount of lead you desire and some bread pane and a bbq. Put the scraps in the bread pan and start melting... Cheap and easy...... I have around 700 in mine can't see a stick....Good luck.. Sand is a pain be there hated it.........

Fat friends definitely works. Gotta have the kind that bring the beer too.

I filled Pop bags with the scrap lead. No melting required. I got 40 lbs in each bag pretty easily. Thinking about going back & adding sand or steel shot to them too... maybe increase each bag by 5 - 10 lbs.

I've got 6 x 50# bags of dry concrete. They're denser and cheaper than sand (~$2/bag at Home Depot). Wrapped the bags in 3 layers of duct tape and they are pretty solid. Of course there is the concern that they would break and combine with water to give you a boat full of concrete. I keep them in dry storage areas and try to keep them away from anything that would puncture the tape coating.

I'm just gonna slip one word of advice in here... Watch the weight on the trailer, you wouldn't want to overload it and have something break. Also depending on several factors - such as the quality of roads you have to go on to get to the ramp - you might get cracks in your gel. Keep an eye out for that kind of stuff.

I also use sand in some of the tighter spaces in my boat. 2 bags in the bow, and 2 bags in each rear corner. These are tight spots I couldn't easily get to with pumps and sacs. I double wrapped each sand bag in 2 garbage bags and tied closed. No issues with leaks in 2 years.

I imagine when everyone takes out the weight from the boat from trailering, it goes into your tow vehicle? If so, won't that move the total trailer/hauling capacity of the whole setup? I am contemplating pop bags or a 500lb fatsac.